Vehicle body trim panel



B. c. PLACE 1893,104

VEHICLE BODY TRIM PANEL 'Filed July 17, 1929 2 sheets-sheet 1 f2.7* 57 ygmc/,r

z'cw piace Jan. 3, E933. B, Q PLACE 1,893,104

VEHICLE BODY TRIM PANEL Filed July 17, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ZO/Z flacgPatented aan. 3, 1933 BION C. PLACE, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN,

PATENT OFFICE ASSIGNOB OF ONE-HALF TO GEORGE E.

GAGNIER, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN 'VEHICLE BODY TRIM PANEL Application filedJuly 17,

This invention relates to a trim panel for vehicle bodies, such asautomobile or aircraft bodies.

Heretofore, panels used for this purpose have generally been constructedof a fibrous foundation or body to the external face of .which isapplied a suitable finishing cloth. The foundation or body has been madeof relatively rigid fibre boards designed to pro- I vide the necessarystiffness to the panel. At-

tempts have been made to eniboss such fibrous panels, but such effortshave not been successful, because the fibre boards of which the.foundation or body of the panel was constructed did not permit thedie-shaping of the panel, because such material was liable to rupture ortear or become seriously weakened by the action of the dies in embossingthe panels. The attempts that have heretofore 2o been made have beenaccordingly, generally regarded as unsatisfactory. Such panels also didnot permit the edges to be bent back on the body without substantialweakening thereof.

Certain types of panels intended for thefinishing of the interior ofvehicle bodies, such as automobile body, and constructed as justdescribed, have heretofore been provided with a pocket. Such panels areusually apao plied to the inside of the doors of vehicle bodies. It hasbeen the practice heretofore,

in constructing a trim panel including a pocket, to stamp out thecentral portion of the panel including the foundation or body as Well asthe fabric covering in the outline of the pocket. This is done in orderthat` the pocket that is subsequently applied may be 'disposed in therecess thus provided and lie substantially fiush with the outside of thepanel. A pocket applied in this way serves to enhance the appearance ofthe completed panel. In such construction, however, the pocket had to beapplied to the perforated panel by sewing the pocket upon a suitablefoundation or body of stiff fibrous material having ltransversedimensions exceeding the transverse dimensions of the opening cut in thepanel itself; The pocket was sewed upon this strip of material and suchmaterial,.in 5o cluding the pocket, was then stitched to the 1929.Serial N0. 378,965.

panel itself against the rear face thereof with the pocket thereofprotruding through the opening that was formed in the body of the panel.The construction thus provided is ornamental in appearance, because thepocket lies fiush with the surrounding sides of the panels but theproduction of the panels is relatively expensive because of the numberof operations that are required in order to complete i'ts manufacture,and because of the 6o Waste of material resulting from the punching outof the central portion of the body of the panel and the utilization ofanother piece of fibre board having dimensions greater than that punchedout to serve as a foundation for the pocket itself, and to bridge theopening thus formed in the panel.

This invention aims to produce a trim panel for the interior of vehiclebodies, including a foundation or body constructed 7o of such materialthat it may be embossed by means of dies Without rupturing the materialor seriously weakening it at the points in which the embossing actiontakes place, and that will at the same time permit the margins of thepanel, after the cloth coverin has been applied thereto, to bebentaround ack upon the foundation or body itself, presenting nicelyrounded and strengthened edges that greatly improve the appearance ofthe panel. Such folding of the edges cannot be successfully broughtabout in panels that include fibrous body material, as above stated,because said material will not permit the return bending of the edgesthereof without substantial weakening or breaking. If the foundation orbody of the panel is constructed of steel reinforced fibre board, inaccordance with this application, it has been found to be entirelyfeasible to score'or corrugate the 90 edges of the panel at their lineof fold to facilitate the turning back of the margins, producing nicelyrounded edges, and in the same operation, to emboss the body of thepanel to give it an ornamental appearance and in the same operation todepress the central portion of the body of the panel, so that thepocket, when one is used, may be sewed into the depression thus formedwith all of the advantages attendant upon the attachment 10 lof a pocketto a trim panel in which the founcordingly is, to provide a trim panelfor vehicle bodies, such as an automobile or aeroplane body for example,in which the foundation or body of the panel. is constructed of steelreinforced fibre board, that is shaped by means of dies in a singleoperation to give an ornamental effect to the body of the panel, torovide an integral foundation for the pochet subsequently attachedthereto, and'to score the edges of the body of the panel so that theymay be readily folded back upon the body to provide a panel havingnicely rounded and unbroken edges, when such edges are deemed desirable.

A further object of the invention is to produce a trim panel including afoundation or body and a fabric covering, as well as a separate pocketattached thereto, in which the foundation or body of the panel and thematerial vthat has heretofore formed the back of the pocket consistlof aunitary integral sheet of material.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an improvedmannerof securing the pocket, that forms an 4essential part of certaintrim panels intended for finishing the interior of vehicle bodies, lthatwill enable the pocket to be readily attached to the body of the panelitself, presenting a flush-job of superior appearance and workmanship,than the trim panels embodying pockets that fit into openings formed inthe body of the panel itself, such as are now commonly used inautomobile bodies of certain types.

Further objects of the invention will appear as a description thereofproceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings in which;

Fig. 1 is a face view of a panel constructed in accordance with thisinvention, the pocket being omitted.

Fig. 2 is a face view of the same panel, with the pocket appliedthereto.

Fig. 3 is a transverse section of the panel taken on the plane indicatedby the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of the bodv of thepanel.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken on the planeindicated by the line 5-5 in Fig. 2.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view of the edge of the pocket. takenon the plane indicated by the line 6-6 on Fig. 2.

Fig. 7 is a sectional view of the completed panel showing the mode ofattachment of the pocket thereto in the depression formed therein, theplane in which this figure being taker, being indicated by the line 7-7on Igaike reference characters indicate like parts throughout theseveral figures.

In the drawings, the numeral l0 indicates the foundation or body of theimproved panel of this invention. Said body is constructed of fibrousmaterial provided with a wire reinforcement 11. Preferably, steel wireof a relatively small mesh is employed, and in the manufacture of thefoundation or body 10, said wire is arranged between two layers offibrous material and is subjected to sufficient pressure to compress thelayers on opposite sides of the wire fabric to unite through theintersticcs thereof to form a substantially integral structure. Animproved fibre board having the characteristics necessary to thecarrying out of the invention about to be described, is disclosed inPatent #1,770,521 granted July 15,1930.

A panel constructed as just described is ca able ofbeing corrugated orembossed to su stantial depths by die-shaping. In this respect it issubstantially different from the ordinary fibrous material heretoforeused as the bodv or foundation of a trim anel.

4Ordinary fibrous material cannot be eeply embossed or corrugatedwithout tearing or so weakening the fibre as to render the panelsubstantially useless. v

Applied to one side of the foundation or body 10 is a cloth covering 1Q.that is cemented thereto b v aflcxible cement, preferably, of awater-proof character. The material from which the panels are made isformed in continuouswebs and the panels are preferablyv stampedtherefrom and embossed in a single operation. by a combined die-shapingand `die-cutting operation as hereinafter pointed out.

One form which a trim panel may take,

is illustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawings. It comprises, as will be clearfrom an inspection of this figure, a central raised embossed portion 13,the mid-portion 14 of which is depressed to return said portionsubstantially to the plane of the side edges 15 or the unembossedportions of the panel. The central portion 13 may assume any ornamentalcharacter that may be desired. The depressed portion 14 is made in theform of the desired outline of a pocket. that is subsequently appliedinsuch depression in the manner hereinafter pointed out.

The appearance of the panel is greatly enhanced if the margins thereofare turned back upon the body to provide strengthened, nicely roundedand finished appearing edges. In accordance with this invention. when itis desired to utilize panels having such rounded and bent-backedges,`the panel is preferably scored adjacent the edges thereof bvpressing a corrugation 16 around the entire periphery thereof at a pointspaced from the edges of the panel a distance equal to the desiredturned bank portion. In order to facilitate the formation of neatappearing corners of the panels, they may be cut out as is shown at 17leaving tongues 18 at the corners of the panel, that are likewise turnedback upon the body. Such turned-baci; portions may be provided withsuitable open ings to receive spring fasteners of any forni by which thepanel may be secured to the, foundation structure. Several ways ofform.. ing the margins to facilitate their attachment to the supportingstructure. are illustrated in my copending application Ser. llo.378,964: tiled July 17, 1929.

It should be understood however, that when panels are provided that donot have the turned back portions and the rounded edges providedthere-by, the corrugations ndjacent the margins of the panel. may besimply omitted. and in this case the panel would be stamped out in aform to accurately it the contour of the surface to which it issubsequently to be applied.

As above indicated, the panel may be stamped from a web of material andembossed and corrugated at a single operation of a die, that is formedto provide the necessary cutting edges and shaping surfaces at thepoints thereof necessary to obtain a panel having the desired outlineand ornamentation. During the saine operation. suitable openings such asindicated by the numerals 19, 20 and 21 are punched in the panel byproperly positioned and formed punches carried by the dies. Suchopenings may be of any form desired, and may be located in anyr positionas may be necessary to attach the door latches and Window operatingrmechanisms, which usually traverse. the trim panel. The openings shownon the drawings are simply illustrative and indicate one zirrangementthat may be used. but it should be understood that such openings may belocated as desired, or if no such openings are necessarv, they may beomitted entirely.

lt will be observed that the portion of the panel that is designated bythe numeral 13 is formed so that it protrudes outwardly from the margins15 of the panel, and that the depressed portion 14 is arranged so thatit extends inwardly to bring the body of the depressed portionsubstantially in the plane of said margins. The ornamentation of thebody of the panel by pressing it outwardly accordingly, provides spacein back of the ornamented body into which the portion 14 can bedepressed Without interfering with the application of a panel to a.supporting structure that may be provided with a supportingsurfacewhich, in the applied position of the panel may be disposedimmediately adjacent thereto. Such depressing of` the central portion ofthe panel avoids the necessity for perforating the panel at this pointin order to provide a recess therein to receive a pocket subsequentlyapplied thereto. As above stated, prior to this invention it was thepractice to apply such pockets to separate pieces of fibrous materialhaving dimensions greater than the dimension of the opening formed inthe panel. to sew the pockcts to such pieces of material, and thensecure the material to thc baci: of the panel -with the pocketprotruding through the opening.

This invention avoids entirely the use of a separate piece of fibrousmaterial to serve as a stii'ening clement for the pocket, and to form atthe same time the rear side thereof, because in the invention of thisapplication the rear side of the. pocket is formed by the depressedportion 1st ot the body of the panel and the recess designed to receivethe pocket material is provided simply by depressing a portion of thepanel itself. The pocket is applied to said depressed portion asindicated particularly in Fig. 2 of the drawings. As shown in thisfigure and Figs. 5 and 7, the pocket of the panel consists of a piece offabric cut into suitable outline to give the pocket an ornamental.appearance, the piece of material being indicated by the numeral Asindicated, it has a rounded lower edge and rounded side edges 24 and 25,the margins of which are doubled as indicated in Fig. 7. The pocket isthen set into the depression 14 and is seWed or otherwise secured to thepanel as indicated at 27 through the doubled portion thereof. Before thepocket is applied to the panel however. its upper edge is doubled asindicated at 28 (Fig. 6) and secured to the body of the pocket bystitching, or otherwise, 29, providing a loop to receive a strip ofelastic material 30 that extends from side to side of the pocket. Asindicated in Fig. 2, the material of the pocket is made of suiiicientsize so that when it is applied to the depression let the materialbetween the sides of the pocket vvill assume a folded condition so as topermit an enlargement of the pocket by pulling it away from the body ofthe panel against the action of they elastic material 30. The elasticmaterial is secured to the 'body of the panel in any suitable manner butpreferably` as indicated in Fig. 5 of the drawings. As shown in thisfigure` the elastic material 30 is riveted at each end thereof by meansof a rivet 31 to the panel. In order to apply the rivet the clothcovering of elastic material is bent back as indicatedat 32 in saidfigure. to permit the application of the rivet to the After such rivethas been applied the raised portion 32 of the overlapping fabric ofthepocket is return-bent as indicated at 33, and the doubled portion of thefabric thus provided is stitched. as indicated at- Sl, to the panel,such stitching serving to complete the application of the pocket to thepanel. Said pocket, it will be understood, iles substanpanel.

tially flush with the outer portion of thecentral embossed portions 13of the panel. It should be understood however, that the pocket mayextend outwardly7 slightly beyond the )lane of said portion o the panel,or it may be depressed inwardly beyond said plane, as may be desired. -1

In the use of the invention just described, suitable foundationmaterial, consisting of a fibrous body reinforced with a steel wire ofrelatively small mesh and provided with a fabric covering 12 of anysuitable character, is preferably provided in the form of a continuousweb. Said web is then cut and shapedbetween cooperating dies providedwith cutting elements that serve to stamp out a panel in the desiredform and to punch openings of the desired character in the body thereof.The cooperating dies are provided with shaping projections and recesses`arranged to simultaneously form the corrugation 16, when v such acorrugation is desired and the raised or ornamental portion 13 and thedepression 14 of the body of the panel. The web of material is advancedintermittently beneath dies of the character just stated, and the panelsare stamped and formed in a singlel operation by said dies. A panel isthus provided that may readily be strengthened, by bending back theedges, and ornamented, and may readily receive lthe cloth pocketordinarily associated with some types of door panels. Such pocket isthen applied to the depression 14 formed in the panel in the mannerabove described.

The application of the pocket to the panel is no more difficult than theapplication of the pocket to the separate ieee of fibrous materialheretofore used an applied to the rear of a perforation or opening insaid panel.

)At the same time, the panel consisting of an integral structurepossesses greater strength and rigidity than in constructions heretoforeproposed in which the body of the panel Was perforated, and in which aseparate piece of material was applied to the rear thereof. At the sametime the number of operations necessary to complete a trim panel isreduced, lowering the cost of production of panels of this character. Asabove indicated, the panel may or may not be provided with a corrugationsurrounding the edges thereof, and permitting the return bending of saidedges to provide a rounded and reinforced edge. Such turned backportions may be used as the fastener securing portions of the panel. 1fsuch turned back edges are not desired, the panel is punched out in theform and outline necessary to fit the particular outline of the Wall orsupporting surface to which it is to be applied.

The invention maybe embodied in other specific forms without departingfrom the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The presentembodiment is therefore to be considered in al1 respect as illustrativeand not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by theappended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and allchanges which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of theclaims are thereforeintended to be embraced therein.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. A trim panel comprising a body, andv a fabric covering applied to oneside of said body, said body and fabric having a depression pressedtherein in position to receive a pocket' with its outer surfaceapproximately flush with the portions of the panel surrounding saiddepression, the sides of said depressions being in the outline of saidpocket.

2. A trim paneltromprising a body and a fabric coveringjappliednto oneside of said body, said body and fabric having the central portionthereof embossed toward said side,

and said embossed portion being formed witha depression arranged inposition to receive a pocket with its outer surface approximately flushwith the portions of the panel surrounding said depression, the sides ofsaid depression being in the outline of said pocket.

BION C.'PLACE.

